


Cookies

by HotGoatCheese



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Eatables, F/M, I'm Bad At Titles, Murder Plot, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-24
Updated: 2019-10-24
Packaged: 2021-01-02 17:01:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21165068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HotGoatCheese/pseuds/HotGoatCheese
Summary: Elias' smile grew menacing. Or perhaps, on second glance, Melanie realized, simply mischievous. "Well, I never said there wasn't anything...special...about them." Melanie fixed him with a look, waiting. Wondering why she wasn't just circling the desk and stabbing him. Or leaning over it and slashing his jugular from the side. It'd be fitting to get blood all over his attempted bribe, however good they smelled.It was when she gave into temptation and leaned in, just a little, for a closer sniff, that she caught the underlying scent beneath the chocolate. Together with his comment and Melanie felt her jaw collapse open in shock and a laugh bubble out of her chest uncontrollably. "Are those - Did you bring..." She cackled a moment and then gasped "Where did you getpot cookiesto bring in?"





	Cookies

She'd just have to go for it. 

Elias wasn't that much bigger than her, really. The suits made him look imposing, and he was broad across the shoulders but there wasn't much substance there really. He was thin through the chest and while he had large hands he was a paper pusher. If it came to a real test of strength, and it would, he had to know she was coming, she could best him. Even if she couldn't, it wasn't like she'd survive the act anyway. 

He deserved it though.

It was funny how right it felt that the chefs knife in her purse had been her dads. It wasn't like Elias had killed him. Somehow it still felt like proper revenge. At least, that's what Melanie told herself as she got to the to the landing at the top of the steps on Elias' floor. Proper revenge, even if not an escape. 

Her first clue this wouldn't go as planned was the whiff she caught of chocolate as she approached his office door. Melanie ignored it though, and just threw the door open. No point knocking when you were expected. Especially when the element of surprise, were you able to get it, would actually serve you better. 

Melanie threw the door open and Elias froze, hand hovering over an open Tupperware, lid set to one side. He withdrew his hand and commented. "Melanie. I thought at least you'd knock." 

Melanie snorted and shut the door behind her. "Really?" 

Elias considered. "Yes, I suppose you had no reason to." Then he turned his hand slightly and gestured to the open box on his desk. "Would you like a cookie?" 

While that explained the chocolate scent in the air, Melanie wasn't sure there was anything Elias could have said that could have surprised Melanie more. "What, are they poisoned?" she asked, approaching his desk cautiously and, despite herself, looking at the cookies. They were lumpy, imperfect circles. Obviously homemade and obviously by an amateur. 

Elias huffed. "Absolutely not." Melanie wasn't sure if he'd actually taken offense to that. His eyes danced, as if she'd told a joke, but his tone was admonishing. "You're the one trying to kill me, remember? I much prefer you alive, actually." 

For some reason, Melanie startled at that. Then silently admonished herself for the reaction, even as she scoffed at him. "Really?" 

"Well, I hired you, didn't I? Obviously I have reason to want you here." Elias argued. 

Melanie rolled her eyes, and shifted her purse back so the straps rested on her elbow. "What, so you thought you could win me over with cookies?" 

Elias' smile grew menacing. Or perhaps, on second glance, Melanie realized, simply mischievous. "Well, I never said there wasn't anything...special...about them." Melanie fixed him with a look, waiting. Wondering why she wasn't just circling the desk and stabbing him. Or leaning over it and slashing his jugular from the side. It'd be fitting to get blood all over his attempted bribe, however good they smelled. 

It was when she gave into temptation and leaned in, just a little, for a closer sniff, that she caught the underlying scent beneath the chocolate. Together with his comment and Melanie felt her jaw collapse open in shock and a laugh bubble out of her chest uncontrollably. "Are those - Did you bring..." She cackled a moment and then gasped "Where did you get _pot cookies_ to bring in?" 

"I made them." Elias answered. Melanie raised her eyebrows at him and he sighed. "You made this decision, and put that knife in your purse, nice touch with the heritage by the way, I do appreciate the thought, at nearly three o'clock this morning. Woke me out of a sound sleep with your certainty." The corners of Melanie's mouth turned up a bit. It shouldn't please her that Elias had been spying on her plotting against him in her own home, but it felt good that she'd scared him. "I thought about falling back into old habits myself to encourage sleep, but then I stayed up baking instead." 

"So you're trying to bribe me...to not kill you...with...eatables?" Melanie asked, clarifying. More to her own mind then in the actual hopes of an answer.

She got one anyway. "Frankly? Yes." Elias made a considering noise then. "I'm not fond of the word bribe, but it's accurate enough." he studied her, piercing eyes meeting hers and Melanie was, momentarily, reminded of her first impression of him, an attractive older man. Well put-together and honestly rather charming. She hated him, but on some level Melanie could still appreciate all that, much as she wished she couldn't.

"You have to know I don't -" 

"I know you can't stand the smell." Elias argued, before Melanie could finish her complaint. "At least, not of the smoke. You find the smell of the herb itself fairly benign. You've never taken the opportunity to partake, despite a certain...curiosity." 

"Stay out of my head." Melanie growled, reflexively. There was no use denying, he'd read it right out of her mind. There were greater offenses to address. 

"Given that you've made it rather literally a matter of life and death for me, I hope you can understand if I don't." Elias snapped in response. "It's become clear that I can't reason with you in your current state of mind, so, I'm making the offer to alter it. Temporarily. Chemically." he paused, then "Of course, I wouldn't let you have all the fun." 

"Sorry, what?" 

"It's been some time since I've indulged. I don't plan to simply baby-sit. We need to talk and I'd honestly rather neither of us were sober for it." Melanie sighed heavily, turning it over in her mind. Then Elias added "And, if I fail to convince you, it'll hardly be your last chance to try to kill me." 

Now that much was true. In fact, if he was going to be high too, and she still had her purse on her, she could just make a move then. It was a curiosity, he was right. Not that she couldn't kill him and just take the cookies home to try...though that felt particularly morbid for some reason. It'd never even been an overwhelming curiosity before. 

Maybe she just wasn't looking forward to trying to stab someone. It was probably a lot harder than it looked. That thought, more than others, was what prompted her shoulders to sag a bit with a release of tension and for her to nod. "Yeah, okay." she reached into the Tupperware and picked up a cookie. Which still smelled delicious. "Had you just opened the box when I came in?" 

"If I'd opened it before you were outside, I'd have indulged before you got here." Elias stated. "That most likely wouldn't have ended well." 

Melanie snorted. "I'd have laughed so hard if I'd come in and you were stoned." she stated. Elias smiled at her, and his smile was surprisingly warm and even genuine. Melanie turned her gaze to study the cookie. "So, I just have a bit of it, right?"

"I made them fairly mild." Elias answered. "Given I doubt you'll want to spend an entire hour in here with me before it takes effect, I suggest eating the whole thing. Just one though, unless you'd like to spend the night here." 

Melanie huffed a bit. "No thanks." and took a bite of the cookie. It tasted about as good as it smelled, with a distinct herbal flavor under the chocolate. She chewed, considered, and swallowed.She gestured with what remained of the cookie "This isn't bad. Why can you bake?" 

"I am a man of many talents." Elias smirked as he reached for a cookie of his own and proceeded to finish it in three bites. Not to be outdone, Melanie ate the rest of hers. Elias replaced the lid on the Tupperware and gestured for her to have a seat. She took one of the upholstered chairs across and settled in, tucking her purse carefully between herself and the armrest. Elias' smile was wry, and he commented "I assure you, I'm not planning to harm you at all, much less turn the weapon you brought in against you." 

"It was a passing thought!" Melanie justified. "You can really stop that any time, this is why I want to kill you!" 

"That? Really."

"No." Melanie snapped, aware just how petulant she sounded. "You know exactly what my problem with you is. I can get into it if you like though." 

"Ah yes," Elias drew out the words mockingly. "I'm 'evil', and I 'trapped' you here, correct?" 

Melanie fumed. "In a nutshell, yeah." She wasn't gonna let him make his very real awfulness out to be insignificant pettiness on her part. "You're also a murderer, can't forget that." she commented. "Not to mention I stood right here," she gestured vaguely to a spot by the door "and watched you blackmail Daisy. I don't know what exactly you're planning, but it can't be good."

Elias made a soft noise, head tipping forward as he leaned heavily on his desk. It took Melanie a moment to realize it was laughter. "What?" she demanded. 

Elias shook his head. "It's amusing." he admitted. "You judge me so harshly but the worst you've even seen of me at this point has been largely self-defense."   
.  
Melanie wasn't about to let him play innocent. "The worst I've seen?" she pressed. 

"Oh yes," Elias answered. Then "Or did you forget that the woman I blackmailed had a gun on me at the time?" Melanie felt a slap of shock and a retort pulled to the tip of her tongue. Elias cut her off. "Yes, I'd just confessed to murder at the time but you said yourself, you thought she planned to arrest me. She didn't." He paused a beat, then "I'm not the only Bad Guy in this scenario." He paused a moment, eyes going distant before "Would you mind locking the door? There's a library clerk named Eddie with a bad habit of not knocking who's planning to come up to give me a report in a couple of hours. I'm sure we'll be far gone enough by then that the door rattling will be hilarious." 

Melanie blinked at him a moment, but then stood up and locked the door. When she sat back down she carefully tucked her purse between herself and the arm of the chair again, then asked Elias "What now?" 

Small talk, it turned out, was next on the agenda. Elias, it turned out, could milk an extended conversation out of subjects like the weather, the best places for lunch closest to the institute, and the sculptures in some of the nearby parks. It wasn't exactly riveting dialogue, but with anyone else it'd be pleasant enough. A bit dull, maybe. The sort of conversation you only really got into with someone who you were waiting for something with. 

They'd gotten around to talking about Ghost Hunt UK, and the process of making a youtube series, when Melanie experienced the first sign of the thing they were waiting for. She was explaining something about lighting, not even totally paying attention to her own words. It was some pretty basic stuff, and she trailed off with a dismissive "You know." assuming that he knew at least as much as she did about anything, given he could quite literally pull it from her mind.

So his answer of "Actually I don't." Took her by surprise. Melanie startled and looked at him, eyes wide. "Detail work isn't my...area of expertise." Melanie blinked. Her jaw twitched, and her throat expanded. It wasn't until she opened her mouth and laughed that she realized how funny she thought that was. Then she didn't stop laughing. Not for several seconds. Elias made a little noise and after a moment joined her. 

"How..." she gasped after a moment. "How is detail work not..." 

Elias stood up, and Melanie leaned back in her chair, hand dropping to the top of her purse. Her laughter died for a beat, then returned when she thought about how much her physical response seemed like something out of a pulp novel. He came around to the front of his desk and leaned on it, but reached toward her. "Let me show you." he said. His hand was offered, as if to shake. 

"What?" she asked. 

"Let me show you. It's...easier than explaining." He stayed there, leaning on the desk and offering his hand. Melanie was wary, but slowly, carefully, reached out and took it. 

She felt some sort of energy course through her. Then she felt the picture in her mind. It wasn't like she was transported, or standing there or anything. She could just see the inside of the cathedral. Stained Glass windows with sunlight streaming through them, making the dark wooden pews sparkle in multicolored light. Candle-covered alters and an enormous crucifix at the front. As churches go, it wasn't overwhelmingly intricate or expensive seeming, just beautiful in a classical sort of way. 

Elias let go of her hand. "I didn't actually need to touch you for that, it was just easier to hold your focus." He pushed off the desk and started as if to walk around again, then he seemed to reconsider, and collapsed into the chair beside her. 

"Hold on." Melanie blinked. "Did you just. Did you put that image Inside my Head?" 

"I did." Elias responded. "Just a memory I plucked from..." he blew out a breath. "Somewhere. I'm not sure. I thought it looked nice." Then he turned in his seat and studied her for a minute. Melanie leaned away from him. "Now. Can you tell me. Which Saint was featured in the window closest to the back of the church, on the right-hand side?" 

Melanie blinked at him. "I-" she blinked again. "Even if I were catholic I..." 

"Exactly." Elias responded. "Even in a mediocre, if pretty, church like that, without actually physically standing there to take everything in, asking questions or otherwise taking the time to study, you're going to miss details. You're not catholic, I'm not a filmmaker. Or a youtuber." Melanie took a moment to digest this. Was Elias admitting a weakness to her? More importantly, was this something that she could use against him? Most likely not, or else why would he tell her? Unless the drugs were affecting his mind... With some concern, she rooted around her own mind for the image of the church, and found it already vague. As distant as a passing thought. Like something she'd read in a book. Then he commented "It was St. Paul, by the way. St. Paul of Tarsus."

Melanie shook her head. "Yeah, no idea why you thought I'd know that." 

Elias shrugged, and grinned widely. "I'm imperfect." he answered, cheerfully. Then he relaxed into his chair and sighed. "Or maybe it's just convenient to me to let you think so, so that I seem less of a threat to you." 

Melanie scoffed at him. "Why'd you need to tell me that last part?" 

A shrug. "I want to be honest with you. Entirely transparent." 

"Alright then." Melanie shifted in her seat, pointing her knees toward him and facing him. "What's your endgame? What are you working on?" 

"Stopping the Unknowing." Elias answered, without hesitation.

"After that." Melanie countered.

Elias eyed her a moment. Then "...What do you think I'm after?" 

Melanie stammered a bit, then "I...I don't know. Something awful." 

Elias hummed a bit and tipped his head back against the back of the seat, then turned it to look at her. "Why awful?" he asked. Then he reached out and, entirely unexpectedly, caught hold of her hand. Melanie let him take it, half expecting him to show her something again. Instead he just held onto her hand and asked. "Why not something...unexpectedly wonderful?"

Melanie scoffed. "Elias!" She scolded. "Are you trying to convert me?" 

"Is it working?" He let the question hang for a moment before grinning it away. "No, jokes aside, Miss King, the question must be asked. Awful for who? Certainly not for me, or I wouldn't be pursuing it. It doesn't have to be for you either. Who are you fighting for?" 

Melanie stared at him. Her thoughts felt scattered. A million answers came to her, and her mind shot past all of them too fast for any to reach her mouth. They were all good answers, and she'd have gladly given him any of them. She just didn't have time to say them. Her thoughts seemed to pitch and careen wildly, and she chased them desperately, coming back to the question after what felt like a long chase and, in desperation not to be outdone, she turned the question on him. "Who are you fighting for?" 

"Do you not know?" Elias asked, and Melanie felt the sudden, sinking feeling that they were playing a game. A game she didn't know the rules to, at least not all of them.

One rule she did know, she would absolutely lose if she said anything that wasn't a question. "Should I?"

Elias chuckled a bit. "Oh? You want to play questions?" 

It was, Melanie realized, distinctly possible she'd gotten the rules wrong. It was also possible there wasn't a game going on here at all. Well, there had to be some sort of game going on here, Elias had gone and gotten her high. She was also definitely high at the moment. She wished she'd stopped to check the time before she'd eaten the cookie, however long it'd been it'd definitely taken effect. As evidenced by the nearly overwhelming impulse to inform her homicidal boss that his face was ridiculous. Instead she just laughed in it. Curling in on herself and drawing her legs onto the chair, burying her face in her knees and wrapping her arms around them before asking "Do you?" 

Elias huffed a bit before asking "Do you understand the position you've put me in?" 

Melanie uncurled instantly, shifting toward him as the instinct to metaphorically pounce on the displayed weakness manifested physically. She didn't realize she still had hold of his hand until she squeezed it hard and pushed it back toward him. "What position have I put you in?" 

"You're saying it was an accident?" Elias fired back without hesitation.

Melanie frowned and let go of his hand. "Are you reading my mind?" she demanded. 

"That was a non-sequitur," Elias' hand was up suddenly and, before Melanie could do anything about it, it was brushing the hair out of her eyes. A chill went down her spine. "Do you want to try again?" 

To her horror, Melanie realized as Elias pulled his hand away that that had not been a bad chill. In fact, it'd been a very, very good chill. And Elias was there, attractive as ever. Moreso, even. Unfairly attractive, given what she could glean of his age and his status and his...evil. Murderers shouldn't be good-looking, whatever True Crime fans thought. He was also wrong. "No it wasn't!" she insisted. "It was - because you were -" But it was gone. She couldn't trace back her thoughts, or the reason for the accusation. "Damn." 

Elias chuckled. "Would you like me to find it for you?" 

"So you can read my mind!" Melanie exclaimed. 

"I can." Elias confirmed. 

"But you won't unless I say so?" 

Elias hesitated, then "For tonight, yes. Going forward, I'd say that largely depends on the choices you make." 

Melanie sobered a little. Or at least it felt like she did. That might be a bad chill. "Sorry...was that a threat?" 

Elias smiled, and asked in a tone that practically projected an attempt at redirection "Are we back to playing questions?" 

"No." Melanie answered, voice going hard.

Elias sighed. "Melanie, you've seen what I'm willing to do in self-defense. When all you have is a hammer, and someone comes after you, you're going to swing it. I don't want to hurt you."

"Then why'd you trick me into signing up for your little...archive cult?" Melanie snapped. 

Elias hummed, considering. It felt like an eternity waiting for him. Melanie had time to locate the clock in his office and assure herself that it wasn't. She only believed that it wasn't broken because the second hand moved almost halfway way around the clock before he answered. "I believe I was honest about that in the moment. You have experience in the field. Rudimentary technique, but definitely promising." 

"But you didn't mean archiving." Melanie clarified. 

Elias smirked, actually, genuinely smirked at her. "I thought that was obvious from the beginning. No, I never meant archiving. I meant seeking the truth." 

Melanie snorted. "What, trying to make it sound...sound like X-Files?" 

"Hardly." Elias responded. "What I mean is that you know what it's like to be consumed by the need to know. Maybe you even know what it's like to suffer the consequences of finding out. The pain that you can't quite bring yourself to regret because now you _know_. So it's worth it. That's why I brought you in. Thought you might like it on our side of Beholding. I hadn't realized you were so adverse to the...being known...aspect." 

Melanie stared at him, blankly. "You're talking over my head." she said simply. "Right now, I actually think I don't want to know?" 

Elias just looked at her, and Melanie's face went warm. His gaze was intense, and if it'd been new information she would believe every word of what she knew about him. He was dangerous, and he could see right through her. And when he asked in a low voice "What do you want, Melanie?" it took her breath. 

"Sorry, what?" She managed.

"Sorry, let me clarify." He reached out slowly, and took her hand again. Almost pointedly. "What would you like to know?" 

That did nothing to help the racing torrent of questions flooding through her mind too fast to catch more than a fragment of any of them. It wasn't even properly thinking so much as being surrounded by thought. Elias' hand was grounding and she gripped it a bit too hard, wondering if weed would always have been like this for her or if the company was influencing her minds reaction. That one, crystal clear thought in the chaos gave her the answer. She looked from their joined hands back to Elias' all-consuming gaze and answered simply. "You." 

Elias blinked, and Melanie felt like a spell of some kind had been broken. She burst into laughter and leaned back, resting the side of her head on the back of her chair. Elias just kept looking at her like that and, as the moments passed, it got easier and easier to laugh under the weight of that stare. Except then he got closer. Then his stupid little grin morphed into that infuriating smirk and he was less than a foot away from her face when he asked in that low little almost sing-song tone of his "Is that so?" 

The words that came out of her mouth may have been "Oh, fuck off." But her actions spoke to the exact opposite. Those being to grab the lapels of his jacket and pulled him in for a kiss. It was a much better kiss than it had any right to be for an intoxicated one. A benefit of weed over alcohol? Or maybe it was actually about Elias, whose hand was suddenly on her face as his lips moved against hers. He made no move to deepen it. 

Melanie pulled away, and Elias followed, breathing out onto her lips, the soft question "Is this all?" His fingertips brushed down her cheek. "Do you want me to show you anything else?" She could only stare blankly at him, mind racing. Did he mean like the church? Or did he mean his body? 

It didn't matter though. If she could glean secrets out of him in this state, so much the better. If not, well, she'd had the passing fantasy that the proper interview he'd offered her would involve his dick. It hadn't, but maybe it wasn't too late for that. So her answer was easy enough. She hadn't let go of his lapels, so she tugged him back toward her while breathing what she hoped was a seductive sounding "Yeah." 

Then he kissed her again.


End file.
